Elemental Assassin 01 - Spider's Bite

disappeared. I scanned the crowd looking for Alexis.
    There the bitch was, about a hundred feet behind her sister and closing fast. Tight mouth. Narrowed eyes. Hard features. Alexis was storming after her sister. I wouldn’t want to be Haley when she caught up. Captain Wayne Stephenson was right behind Alexis. So were the two goons. The four of them approached the ballroom exit—
    “Finn! Finnegan Lane!” a sultry voice called out.
    Damn and double damn.
    I was a couple hundred feet and several dozen people away from the bar, but I still heard her yell his name. So did Alexis James. The Air elemental stopped right where she was, as if she’d been struck by lightning. Stephenson had to pull up to keep from slamming into her. The goons hit his broad back and bounced off like Ping-Pong balls. They managed to stay upright.
    Roslyn Phillips smiled, murmured an apology, and stepped around Alexis James. The vampire’s eyes focused on Finn, and she was oblivious to the Air elemental’s sudden interest in her. Alexis followed Roslyn’s gaze. Her mouth curved up into a grim smile as she spotted Finn, who’d half-raised his hand in greeting to Roslyn. Grabbing Roslyn’s arm, Alexis yanked her back, then barked a command at Stephenson. He grabbed Roslyn around the waist and started carrying her out of the ballroom. The two goons flanked him. A few people gave the group curious stares, but nobody moved to intervene. The folks might be richer in Northtown, but they didn’t like to get involved in other people’s problems any more than those in Southtown did.
    Roslyn didn’t know what the hell was going on, but she started struggling. A giant dragging you anywhere was never a good thing. The vampire sank her fangs into Stephenson’s forearm before he got her out of the room. Finn bolted out of his seat after them.
    Oh, fuck .
    I’d started moving as soon as I’d heard Roslyn call Finn’s name. So had Donovan Caine. Our footsteps pounded into the carpet as we ran for the exit. But there were too many people for us to move in a straight line. Zigzag, zigzag, zigzag. That was all we were able to do.
    I’d just spotted some daylight, a hole through the crowd, when someone stepped in front of me, blocking my path. I glanced up. The giant Mab had sent after me before.
    “There you are,” he rumbled. “Ms. Monroe wants a word with you.”
    No time to be subtle. I drove my knee into his groin. He yelped and bent over. I’d already palmed one of my silverstone knives, so I popped him in the windpipe with the hilt of it. Choking, he stumbled back. The giant’s ass hit a table, and it flipped over. Drinks and food spilled everywhere. Shouts and curses rose up, but I was already on my way out the door.
    It was a straight shot from the ballroom to the front entrance of the country club, but I didn’t see Alexis James, Stephenson, or Finn in the hallway. They had to be outside already. Getting past the giant had cost me precious seconds.
    I ran down the hall toward the front door. Donovan Caine’s footsteps scuffed the carpet behind me. The outside door was open, letting the afternoon sun stream in through the entrance. But it didn’t warm me. Not one damn bit.
    I raced outside. My head swiveled left, then right. There. A limo sat at the curb halfway down the steep hill that led up to the front of the club. Wayne Stephenson smashed his fist into Finn’s chest. His body immediately sagged. Unconscious. Stephenson shoved him in the back of the limo, then got in after him. Alexis James, Roslyn Phillips, and the other two goons must have already been inside because there was no sign of them.
    “Finn!” I screamed, running in that direction. “Finn!”
    Too late.
    The door slammed shut. Tires screeching, the limo pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the afternoon sun. 

27
    For a moment, I just stood there, not quite believing what had happened. That Alexis James had Finn and Roslyn Phillips. Luck, that capricious bitch, had really fucked me over today.
    Donovan Caine ran up behind me. Sometime during the commotion, the detective had drawn the gun from his ankle holster.
    Then Fletcher’s training took over, as it so often did. My eyes flicked back and forth. Several limo drivers had gotten out of their cars, wondering what all the drama was about. The tuxedo-clad valets by the front door stared at me with open-mouthed shock. Once he got his breath back, Mab Monroe’s giant wouldn’t be far behind.
    “We